Liquid dispensers are widely used in various industries. Chemical solutions including fertilizers, pesticides, and detergents and so on are often mixed from various concentrates and solvents before dispensed for use or storage. Similar dispensers also find applications in the medical field. In the food and beverage industry, liquid dispensers are widely used in all kinds of venues such as quick service restaurants.
The liquid dispensers used in food and beverage industry reconstitute juice syrup concentrates with a potable diluent, e.g., potable water, and then dispense the reconstituted juice into a container at the point of consumption. This kind of dispensers are sometimes called “postmix” dispensers as they produce a final product in contrast to a “premix” beverage that is prepackaged with the final constituents (flavor, gas, etc.) and ready for consumption. For safety and taste reasons, a postmix beverage dispenser often requires refrigeration in the dispenser of various components that eventually go into the postmix product.
One particular concern for operators of postmix dispensers is quality control. The correct mix ratio among the constituents needs to be entered into the ratio-setting mechanism in the dispenser in between changes of constituent supplies. Ideally, the dispenser can monitor the amount of supplies remaining in order to avoid of either running out or running low. The expiration date of the supply is also important to guarantee quality and consumer safety. While various methods and systems have been devised to enter similar information into a dispenser, there remains a need for a user-friendly and efficient data input system.